


Be Careful Making Wishes (In The Dark)

by howmanyshipscanashippership



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, nathan is a piece of shit, so is Lola
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2020-12-17 02:40:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21046949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/howmanyshipscanashippership/pseuds/howmanyshipscanashippership
Summary: Nathaniel was almost 10, and he was on the Exy court. Kevin was fun to play with even if Riko was mean. He still got to play Exy which was much better than lessons with Lola. It was great until his father killed and tortured a man right in front of the them.That night, his mother shook him awake. They were going on a trip, just the two of them, and they didn't have to come back! He wanted to play Exy with Kevin and Riko, but he wanted to get away from Father more. He wished that one day he could be away from his father and play Exy with Kevin, maybe with Riko-but he liked Kevin more.





	1. Part I- The Butcher's Son

**Author's Note:**

> Nathan and Lola are in this fic, warnings of their own. There is child abuse though, describing Nathaniel/Neil's childhood. Not anywhere near as graphic as some parts of the books though.

Nathaniel was 6 and all he wanted was a friend. Not even a great friend but someone he could play with. He had blocks and markers and all the action figures he could want, but he had no one to play with. It was January so it was cold outside and he wanted to go and play in the Baltimore snow. But he had no friends. He wouldn't have been able to, of course, because- what if someone saw something suspicious?

Nathaniel was 7, his birthday wish came true! That spring his Mother had taken him to an Exy practice. He got to play every Wednesday and Saturday. The other striker, Ian, was maybe a friend. Ian kept asking to go to Nathaniel's house but then his Father would have been mad. (Bad things happened when Nathan Wesninski was mad, and they always  _ hurt.)  _ ((It always ended in Nathaniel getting bruises and getting cut.)) Nathaniel sat on his bed, in his too dark room (You're not scared of the dark Nathaniel, if you need something to be scared about, I can show you scared because no son of mine will have a night light...But you're not scared, right?) looking up at the winter moon- he wished to always be able to have friends and play Exy. Forever. It would be the best! Maybe sometime he could tell his friends the truth, but Nathaniel was happy to just play and have friends. He didn't want to be like his Father, but he would just be happy to stay out of the way.

Nathaniel was 8, and this was officially the worst birthday ever. His shoulder hurt so so bad. If he hadn't cried out all of the tears his body had, he would still be crying. It wasn't his fault that he flinched away from the visiting, scary, loud man. Most 8-year-olds would. 

After the man left, Nathan walked over to where his Mother was ironing, pretending to be a normal family. (Nathaniel knew it wasn't normal for screams to echo through the halls and for his father to come home covered in blood, and it definitely was not normal that he knew where the vital arteries and veins were and how to use a knife to kill or hurt, to make it last long without the release of death) Nathan grabbed Nathaniel and shoved the hot iron onto his shoulder. He must have passed out from the pain (or blood loss) and he had cried for hours- silently (if you're crying already with that papercut how are you going to handle being stabbed? You are giving the opponent a loaded gun and they will shoot you with it. Stop crying Nathaniel.) ((Nathaniel still had the scar from when Nathan's shot grazed him)) (((As much as it hurt when his father was angry, nothing compared to how much worse it was when he went cold.))) As he fell asleep, Nathaniel wished that he would feel better and never be hurt again.

Nathaniel was 9, and this year he decided not to make a wish. The past couple of years had been horrible- his Father had let Lola train him. (She had cruel, sharp smiles, and even worse knives.) After the Iron Incident, Nathan had decided that his training needed to be stepped up further. Lola and Nathaniel would spar, until one of them was down (always Nathaniel... must you be so helpless- you would be dead 10 times over in the past minute if I had been trying to kill you) ((Is that the best you can do. Again... Unless you would rather I get your father.)) Lola never stopped at his surrender- no he got a small scar on his opposite shoulder to tally how weak he was. 

Nathaniel was almost 10, and he was on the Exy court. (He felt alive.) ((It was as though nothing could touch him or beat him down on the court. There was no way for Nathan to ruin it)) Kevin was fun to play with even if Riko was mean. He still got to play Exy which was much better than lessons with Lola. (Anything was better than those) It was great until his father killed and tortured a man right in front of the three preteens. (He was wrong. There was always a way for Nathan's cruelty)

That night, his mother shook him awake. They were going on a trip, just the two of them, and they didn't have to come back! (No more Lola, or Nathan) Nathaniel brought only a few changes of clothes, his toothbrush, toothpaste, a few cereal bars, water, and an Exy ball. He wanted to play Exy with Kevin and Riko, but he wanted to get away from Father more. For the first time in two years, Nathaniel hoped and wished that one day he could be away from his father and play Exy with Kevin, maybe with Riko-but he liked Kevin more.


	2. Part II- The Runaway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil's life as a runaway...  
ages 11-17

Nathaniel was 11, and he was tired. Tired of all the lying and running. The sun was setting as he tried to sleep on the hard seats of an airplane. Nathaniel was flying overseas to Europe. Well, not Nathaniel- Philip was flying overseas to Europe, back 'home'. Philip Jones was 8 years old, he and his hard-working, single mother, Jane, were moving to a small town in Wales from London. They had just been visiting family in the States. Philip's father had died in a car crash before he was born. (If only) Philip had dirty blonde hair and muddy green eyes. (Nathaniel doesn't exist) ((Abram! You are not him anymore. You are someone different, unremarkable in every way, you go unnoticed, and if you see  _ anyone _ from your father, you run." "Again, Abram, say your story again." "Say who you are enough that you could say it in your sleep and make it not seem like a scripted lie.")) It never stopped feeling like a lie. 

He was Philip for 3 months. But then Philip was left behind.

Thomas Smith was 12. He didn't know where he was, only that they were in a motel room. They, Thomas and his mother, Sara, had just had a run-in with Lola and Romero. The siblings had shot at them, though most of the bullets skimmed off of Sara and Thomas' Kevlar vests. (Always wear this Abram. Always be prepared to run.) But one bullet had missed the Kevlar, so now, Thomas was in a motel room, being cleaned and stitched up by his mother with only Advil and vodka as painkillers.

He'd been Thomas for only a month when he was left, bloodied and wounded, never to be seen again.

Stefan Bergmann was 14. He was in Berlin, Germany. Audrey Bergmann was his -Stefan's- mother, they had just moved from a small town in Southern Germany, where his alcoholic father lived. (They had to have a way to explain the bruises left behind from Romero)

Stefan sat in the back, not speaking much like usual. It was easier to fade and disappear into the background when no one knew or cared who he was. At lunch, Stefan would always sit against the back of the school. He has been doing that for a few weeks when another boy had sat next to him. (I'm Nicky, Nicky Hemmick, he had whispered, do you mind if I sit here?) ((Stefan thought that the boy was a little broken. But Stefan was a little broken too))

They had done this for weeks and Stefan thought that he liked Nicky. He had always wanted a friend. The two talked quietly each day and for the first time in years, Stefan wanted to tell Nicky everything. Nicky, whose visible cracks were slowly mending. Stefan didn't want to lie to his only friend, but he did not know how to stop lying. His entire life was a lie. (He had no idea what the truth was. He didn't know how to now lie.)

Stefan was buried after 6 months. He didn't even get to say goodbye to Nicky. 

Alex was 17. As Alex stood looking out into the Californian desert, avoiding looking at the burning car. His mother was in the car. And it was burning. Nathan had caught up with them in Seattle. Alex made it out with only bruises. Mary had made it out with internal bleeding and death knocking. Was he heartless that he wasn't crying? Could he feel anything aside from this numbness?

Two people were left burning on that beach. But one was a lie, and the other was family.

Neil Josten was 17 when he got to Millport, Arizona.


End file.
